Banerjee, who became the first woman Chief Minister of the state in May, had consistently been elected to the Lok Sabha since 1984, except in 1989.

Her victory significantly coincided with a verdict of the Calcutta High Court upholding the Singur land act as constitutional and valid.

The ruling TC added another feather in its cap as its candidate A T M Abdullah wrested Basirhat North assembly seat in North 24 Paraganas district trouncing Subid Ali Gazi of CPI(M) by 30,941 votes, officials said.

Banerjee, who had given up her Railway portfolio, to become the Chief Minister, had to contest the polls within the stipulated six months after assuming office.

She had skipped the Assembly contest in April-May on grounds that she needed to campaign for the party to oust the 34-year-old Left Front regime.

While Banerjee was expected to win the poll, all eyes were on her victory margin.

While a high voter turnout of 80.35 percent was recorded in Basirhat North, it was as low as 44.88 percent in Bhowanipur in Sunday's bypoll. In the May election Bhowanipore had recorded 63 percent voting.

Banerjee had polled 73,635 votes and Mukherjee 19422 votes.

With her victory, the Trinamool Congress strength went up to 185 in the 294-member state Assembly. The number of Left Front MLAs came down to 63.

After her win, Banerjee said, "From Singur to Darjeeling we have tried to solve many problems. It is a victory of 'Ma, Mati, Manush'. I am grateful to them.”

"People have reposed faith in us and on our work in the past four months. We will bring back the work culture destroyed by the CPI(M) in past 34 years," she said.